The Durham County Board of Commissioners dissolved the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in a 3-2 vote Monday night, stressing that infighting has rendered the group ineffective.
All three board members--Chair Mary Ellen Williams, Vice Chair John Horton and James Randall--will be removed, effective June 25. The commissioners hope to replace them by the end of the month, said Ellen Reckhow, a county commissioner.
The ABC Board, which oversees all county liquor sales, has recently been plagued by conflicts between Randall and the other two board members, such as allegations by Randall that the other two had held secret meetings and voted without him--although Williams has denied those claims. Randall could not be reached for comment.
After hearing eight hours of testimony on the disputes, county commissioners MaryAnn Black, Becky Heron and Reckhow voted for the board's dissolution, while Joe Bowser and the Rev. Philip Cousin opposed the decision.
"There was evidence that the board could not work together effectively," Reckhow said. "For example, they could not agree on the minutes of meetings, and so they had their meetings transcribed by a court reporter at a cost of hundreds of dollars."
Reckhow added that when the county commissioners ordered the members to meet with a mediator in January, the mediator decided the disagreements were too severe for mediation to help.
Bowser and Cousin had favored removing Randall alone, saying Williams and Horton had done their jobs effectively despite the personality disagreements. Bowser credited them with reducing debt incurred by former ABC Board members who resigned under pressure in 1997.
"It was obvious from the testimonies that Mr. Randall was the cause of the problem," Bowser said, adding that Randall had missed nearly half of the board's meetings.
But a motion to remove Randall and leave the other two ABC commissioners in place failed 2-3. "We felt there was evidence that the other commissioners could have done something to facilitate board relations that they didn't," Reckhow said. "Our feeling was that it might be best to just start with a clean slate."
Williams accused at least one of the commissioners of voting in favor of the dissolution in order to have more control over the board, particularly over the fate of ABC general manager Randolph Mills. Although its members are appointed by the county commissioners, the board is an independent state agency.
"One or more board members wanted me to fire the manager, and I didn't have a reason," Williams said.
Her comments echoed similar statements by Bowser, who said Heron pushed for the ABC Board to fire Mills, with the threat of removing Williams from the board otherwise. Heron could not be reached for comment.
Reckhow, however, said she had no such intentions when she voted to remove the three members.
"I can't speak for the other commissioners; I can speak for myself," Reckhow said. "I have absolutely no interest in attempting to [take over the duties of the ABC Board]." She added that she had no opinion on whether to fire Mills.
Mills declined to comment on either the dissolution of the board or his future prospects.
Complicating matters for the ABC Board were allegations that Williams and Mills had improperly solicited and accepted a champagne donation from Bacardi USA to a charity at the Duke Medical Center, where Williams volunteers. Those claims are under investigation by the county sheriff's office, but no charges have been filed.
Reckhow said the donation controversy had not been as important in the decision to dissolve the board as the degree of infighting among the members.
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